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Ottawa, John Baird made it official this morning, telling a hushed House of Commons that he is stepping down as Stephen Harper’s foreign affairs minister and leaving federal politics.
Baird, grinning broadly to a standing ovation from around the Commons, said he is optimistic about the future of the country and boasted about Canada’s standing on the world stage.
But he said it was time to quit after two decades in elected politics, that he will soon be leaving his MP’s post in an Ottawa riding, and that he will not run in a federal election later this year.
Foreign Minister John Baird receives a standing ovation in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. Baird announced his resignation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/
Baird also appeared to confirm the suddenness of his departure, which broke like an earthquake in the frozen capital on Monday evening.
The leak of his pending resignation caught even some of his senior staff off guard, as they were not expecting the news to emerge so soon. Sources say Baird, 45, has no firm private sector gig lined up.
“Mr. Speaker, last night I spoke to the prime minister and informed him I was standing down from cabinet,” Baird told the packed chamber, with Harper seated just to his left.
“I expressed my intention not to run in the next general election in the new riding of Nepean and I also expressed my intention to stand down as member of Parliament for the Ottawa West-Nepean in the weeks ahead.”
In a press release, Harper said he accepted Baird’s resignation “with great regret and affection.”
“John has always been willing to do a lot of the heavy lifting in my various cabinets and has assumed daunting new responsibilities with unsurpassed energy, commitment and professionalism, never losing sight of the fact that he was serving the Canadian people,” said Harper’s statement.
Baird, known as a pugnacious debater with sharp partisan elbows and a close confidant of the prime minister, acknowledged his reputation and said he’s learned a great deal since entering electoral politics in Ontario in the mid-90s as a twenty-something flame thrower.
“To make a difference — really make a difference — you can’t be defined by partisanship or ideology,” he said.
A parade of cabinet ministers, Conservative backbenchers and opposition MPs lined up to shake Baird’s hand or hug the popular minister after his address, bringing Commons business to a standstill for 15 minutes.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, a fellow Ottawa MP, paid tribute to Baird’s work.
“He found his best footing as minister of foreign affairs, in my opinion,” said Dewar.
Marc Garneau, the Liberal critic, expressed the common feeling of surprise at Baird’s departure from politics.
“I’m still trying to understand why you are leaving,” Garneau said in a direct address to Baird across the Commons aisle.
Baird is just the latest high-profile minister to abandon Harper’s cabinet as the government faces its third shot at re-election after nine years in power.
Jim Flaherty resigned as finance minister shortly before his death last April, and former CTV anchor Peter Kent left his post at environment in the July 2013.
Conservatives are painting Baird’s sudden departure as a savvy and uncontroversial move to the business world after decades of public service.
Green party Leader Elizabeth May had another take.
“When a minister of the Crown feels his advice is not welcomed by a prime minister, when everything is run out of the Prime Ministers Office, I think it is hard for anyone to play the role of loyal soldier,” May told reporters.
The mystery of Baird’s sudden departure from politics is matched by his chameleon-like political persona.
Former Liberal MP Bob Rae — whose association with Baird dates back to their days in the Ontario legislature in the 1990s — took to Twitter to call him a “bombastic, mean-spirited, vicious, eloquent, generous, smart, cantankerous, hardworking, ingratiating, effective, human.”
Last night, Conservative MP Larry Miller tweeted: “Hope what I’m hearing about MP John Baird not running is false He’s been a gr8 FA Minister Hope he’s gonna help Kevin Rudd fix the UN & WHO.”
Baird was recently asked by the head of a new international commission to help him reform the United Nations World Health Organization because it responded too slowly to the Ebola crisis.
